Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini was always sure Liverpool would slip up

NEVER WORRIED: Pellegrini was always sure that Manchester City would win last season's Premier League title [GETTY]

The City boss never doubted his side would win the league even when they trailed the Reds by seven points.

The Blues lost to Liverpool on April 13 to leave them seven behind with two games in hand on the Reds' four remaining outings.

But Pellegrini's confidence never wavered as he knew the pressure was on Brendan Rodgers' side and was confident they would crack under the heat.

Liverpool then lost to Chelsea and drew at Crystal Palace which paved the way for City to claim the title by two points with a draw and five wins in their final six games.

He said: "I was not surprised (Liverpool did not win the title).

"I was absolutely convinced when I said the words that I said - 'careful it's not finished because they have to play four games more and the pressure when you are at the top of the table is increasing after every game'.

"The most important thing for us was not to think about Liverpool, but think about what we had to do and we had to win the last five games and we did.

"I can't talk about what happened with Liverpool at that moment but from my experience when you are finishing the season the pressure increases every week for every team, not only for Liverpool.

“Everyone says it's a very difficult league and every team can beat any other team every weekend”

Manuel Pellegrini

"Everyone says it's a very difficult league and every team can beat any other team every weekend.

"So when you have to play four more games and you have only two points at the top (over second-placed Chelsea) you cannot be sure of being champions.

"That's why I was absolutely sure they weren't going to win the four games that they had to play."

Eliaquim Mangala, the £32m signing from Porto, will not be ready to face Liverpool on Monday as he continues his preparations having missed out on most of pre-season.

Frank Lampard is also unlikely to feature with Sergio Aguero set to come off the bench again.

But Pellegrini does have a large squad to pick from and believes he has the strongest team in the league despite Chelsea being the bookmakers' favourites to win the title.

He added: "I think that five or six teams have the option to win the title but I always favour my players.

"Other teams also have strong squads but if you are analysing the players I prefer mine."